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Nigeria Wins $2.35 Billion Arbitration Case Over Mambilla Hydropower Project
Nigeria Wins $2.35 Billion Arbitration Case Over Mambilla Hydropower Project
NEWS
The Nigerian Record
9/18/20262 min read
Nigeria has won a major international arbitration case against Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited concerning the long-disputed Mambilla Hydropower Project.
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris ruled in favour of the Federal Government on Thursday, September 17, 2026. The decision ends years of legal battle over Sunrise Power’s claim for approximately $2.35 billion in damages arising from a disputed 2003 agreement to build the 3,050-megawatt hydropower plant in Taraba State.
Sunrise Power had initiated the arbitration at the ICC in October 2017, arguing that Nigeria breached the original agreement by entering into a separate arrangement with a Chinese consortium for the same project.
The dispute later became more complex after the Federal Government signed a settlement agreement with Sunrise Power in January 2020. Under the reported terms, Nigeria was to pay the company $200 million within 14 days (with a 10 percent penalty for default), while Sunrise Power would return as the local content partner on the project. The settlement was never implemented, prompting the company to file an additional $400 million claim in 2021 over the government’s failure to honour the agreement.
Background of the Dispute
The controversy dates back to 2003, when Sunrise Power was awarded a contract linked to the Mambilla project under a build-operate-transfer arrangement. The validity of that award later became highly contested.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has publicly stated that he never authorised the contract. In 2023, he insisted that no minister had the authority to commit the government to a multi-billion-dollar project without presidential approval.
The matter also led to criminal proceedings against former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused him of awarding the contract without the required approvals and of receiving payments linked to Sunrise Power. Agunloye has pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations.
High-Profile Testimony
The Paris arbitration hearings drew unusual attention after former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari appeared as factual witnesses for Nigeria. Former Power Minister Babatunde Fashola and former Water Resources Minister Suleiman Adamu also testified.
Nigeria’s witnesses challenged both the validity of the original 2003 contract and the subsequent 2020 settlement agreement. Several witnesses listed by Sunrise Power, including Agunloye, did not appear to adopt their statements during the hearings.
Full details of the tribunal’s reasoning and the exact terms of the award were not immediately available at the time of reporting. The proceedings were conducted confidentially, limiting public disclosure of evidence and arguments presented during the hearings.